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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
This started off with real promise but ended with a silly contrived "twist". About halfway through even the writing became disappointing. Too bad, I have enjoyed Alexander's other fiction but sadly this one was a let down.
I find the story of the Romanov's fascinating, so I was immediately excited when I picked this up from the free little library. Having done my research on the Romanov's, it proved to be mostly repetitive (but still fascinating) of other stories/ historical account that have been told, until the twist. I appreciated that the author kept you guessing until the very end, and that he went a slightly different route than the Alexsandra myth that she had survived the gruesome night. The detail and emotion that Alexander writes this story with really puts you in the House of Special Purpose, feeling the fear that the Romanov's felt but also the love, family and faith that stayed with them throughout this nightmare.
I actually didn't care too much for this book. Looking for historical fiction during the Romanov Era and is was recommended. I hoping I can find something else.
Maybe a 4.5 but I boosted it to 5 because the author did an incredible amount of research and gained access to private Russian archives to hunt down facts for this fictionalized account of the last days of the Romanovs. This book did what good historical novels should do; it made me curious about the actual history surrounding the time period while also providing an entertaining story.
An intriguing, well-told tale. It makes me want to learn more about Russian history.
What a fantastic read and a great twist at the end! You just don't want to put it down and when it's over you want more!
I had high hopes for this book after reading the reviews and really tried to like it. The Kitchen Boy is a fictionalized account of the last weeks of the Romanovs when they were in house arrest by the Bolscheviks. The story was monotonous, although well-written, and I suspect the author tried to end it with a twist, however, it just left the reader feeling cheated and used.
This book was ok - it had an interesting twist at the end. I do wish that it got into the history of the Romanovs a little bit more instead of focusing almost exclusively on the last couple weeks of their lives. I wish that I knew more about how they got to that point, about which the author only aludes to every once in a while without going into any detail at all.